Guest guest Posted January 30, 2008 Report Share Posted January 30, 2008 Fusion of the Soul: Jayashri Ma and the Primordial Mother by June McDaniel " [Jayashri's guru] instructed her in spiritual practice (sadhana), and they did meditation with tantric mantras and visualizations before Adya Ma on matching panchamunda asanas (seats made of five skulls: four animal skulls and one human skull). She sat next to him, and he transmitted his power to her. The power came directly from heart to heart, and could only be felt; it was not mediated by sight or touch. After this meditative practice with her guru, Jayashri said that Adya Shakti took up permanent residence within her. " The Graceful Guru Hindu Female Gurus in India and the United States Edited by Karen Pechilis Oxford University Press, 2004 ISBN: 0-19-514537-2 Part 2 Jayashri was born in 1948, in Darjeeling, West Bengal. She came from a Shakta family, and her father was a deputy magistrate and practitioner of tantra (tantra sadhaka). He was a disciple of Taraksepa of Basirhat (in South 24 Parganas) and a visionary who had many religious experiences. When she was eight years old, Jayashri met a friend of her father, named Sudin Kumar Mitra. He was an officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) posted to Darjeeling, who came originally from Calcutta. He was also a tantric practitioner, and a year after she met him, Jayashri took initiation (diksha) from him. She said that he chose her as a disciple for her spiritual gifts, and she was his first disciple. She was fascinated by her guru, and described her love for him, which later was transformed into a love of Adya Shakti Kali. Her guru, Sudin, claimed that he had been initiated directly by Adya Shakti Kali. At the age of seventeen years, he wished to have the respected Shakta practitioner Nagin Bagchi of Tarapith initiate him, but Bagchi refused. He said, " The Mother herself must decide, I am not your guru. " After repeated requests, Bagchi finally told Sudin to bathe, fast, and remain alone in a room for the whole night. If Sudin were willing to do this, then Bagchi said he would initiate him the next morning. He went into the room at night, and at 2:00 A.M. the room was filled with brilliant light. He saw a vision of Adya Shakti Ma, who said to him, " Chant these mantras along with me. " He did so, and then she disappeared. He did not realize this was his initiation (diksha). The next morning, he ran to Nagin Bagchi to get initiated. Bagchi told him, " Don't you realize, you were already initiated by Ma at 2:00 A.M.! " Nagin Bagchi gave him two photographs, one of Bagchi himself and another one of Adya Shakti Kali. He told him to do a simple ritual of worship, offering incense to the photo and praying for universal blessings. He was to say, " Tomar jaya hok " , all victory to you, before her photograph. Jayashri and her mother were both initiated by Sudin Mitra, but her father was not. Mitra told him that he was due to be initiated by another person, a renunciant (sannyasi), who later turned out to be Taraksepa. During her school life, Jayashri was close friends with her guru, and also with Swami Bhavesananda. By the age of ten years she would visit them and do meditation with them. Mitra told her that Adya Ma was always with him, and that he had trouble sleeping at night because Adya Ma would keep him awake. He said that Jayashri would grow up to be a powerful woman, who would help many people. At the age of thirteen, when Jayashri began going to temples for worship, she would fall into trances (samadhi). During worship she would see images of the goddesses Tara Ma and Adya Ma before her. She was " drowned in dhyana [meditation], " subject to frequent visions and trance states. When Adya Ma would come, she would see the world turned to light, and she would lose track of the physical world. Jayashri would then see the goddess before her. She says that sometimes Adya Ma looks like her picture (there is a set iconographic image of the goddess), and sometimes she appears in the image of Jayashri's body so that it is like looking in a mirror. However, when the form (rupa) looks like Jayashri, it is really the goddess beneath that form. Adya Shakti cannot be described in words, but her power can be felt. When Jayashri was seventeen or eighteen years old, Sudin Mitra was transferred to Allahabad for his IAS posting, and she went along with him. She stayed with him for a year. He instructed her in spiritual practice (sadhana), and they did meditation with tantric mantras and visualizations before Adya Ma on matching panchamunda asanas (seats made of five skulls: four animal skulls and one human skull). She sat next to him, and he transmitted his power to her. The power came directly from heart to heart, and could only be felt; it was not mediated by sight or touch. After this meditative practice with her guru, Jayashri said that Adya Shakti took up permanent residence within her. About a year later, her father was transferred to Birbhum District in West Bengal, and she came there to live with her family. She had wanted to take renunciant vows (sannyasa), but her guru said that she had already become a sannyasini inwardly, so no outward renunciant initiation (sannyasi diksha) was necessary. She was to be a householder holy woman, a grihi sadhika. When she moved to Birbhum District, she became seriously ill with dysentery. She soon developed ulcerative colitis and heart trouble, which have stayed with her to the present time. She got a college degree and studied classical music, but the illnesses restricted her movement and eventually made her stop her education. She stayed in Birbhum District after her father's death, but never married. She is now a primary school teacher, working with children from five to nine years of age. She is weak from her illnesses, and eats little food. The doctors she saw at the time she first developed the symptoms of colitis and heart trouble told her that she would be dead in ten years, but she has survived for twenty-five years thus far. This is understood as a miracle by her devotees. Her guru prayed to Adya Ma to allow her to survive and help others, and she credits them both for her survival. [to be continued] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 31, 2008 Report Share Posted January 31, 2008 , " msbauju " <msbauju wrote: > > Fusion of the Soul: Jayashri Ma and the Primordial Mother > by June McDaniel > Thank you dear Msbauju! I am always inspired and nourished by these stories of the diverse and unique spiritual paths of the various saints, sages, seekers and gurus, especially women. Not to exclude the men's stories of course, I have just always been " hungry " to hear women's experiences. Thanks again! > " [Jayashri's guru] instructed her in spiritual practice > (sadhana), and they did meditation with tantric mantras > and visualizations before Adya Ma on matching > panchamunda asanas (seats made of five skulls: four > animal skulls and one human skull). She sat next to him, > and he transmitted his power to her. The power came > directly from heart to heart, and could only be felt; it > was not mediated by sight or touch. After this meditative > practice with her guru, Jayashri said that Adya Shakti > took up permanent residence within her. " > > The Graceful Guru > Hindu Female Gurus in India and the United States > Edited by Karen Pechilis > Oxford University Press, 2004 > ISBN: 0-19-514537-2 > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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